31. Ella

31

ELLA

T he warehouse is dank. The cement walls look wet, the floor cold, and the thin mattress I'm lying on doesn't keep it at bay. The scents of seaweed, fish, and salt could mean I'm anywhere along the coast. I huff and roll onto my side, nausea roiling in my stomach. Even though I'm past my first trimester, the morning sickness hasn't fully gone away, and stress makes it worse.

My head spins, and I try not to panic over whatever I was dosed with to knock me out.

Please don't have any adverse affects on my baby. Please let her be alright. I swear I will get revenge for this. Separating me from my men, my support group, my family. Making me hurt the people I love. Forcing me away from the father of my unborn child, just when I'd craved their involvement. Threatening me with exposure when I help others who need it. Drugging me is simply going too far.

Vanessa has pushed me past my limit.

But the longer I sit with my wrists and ankles bound, the longer no one comes to check on or taunt me, the more hopeless I feel.

I struggle to keep my eyes open, hoping that sleep can cut the time I'm actually here in half, that it can be my escape from this solitary torture. Muscles cramp in my shoulders and back, in my hips and knees and ankles.

Gnawing eats away at my stomach, and I have no way to count the hours I've been kept here.

My mind replays the last words I said to my men—not my men. Not anymore. I stifle back a sob as I picture their faces, crestfallen and heartbroken. I couldn't tell them at the time, but it's exactly how I felt, too. Maybe I should have just let Vanessa expose me, let them know my complete truth.

Why didn't I trust them with this? They'd probably have offered to help me, and as loathe as I am to admit it, help is what I need now.

No one is going to sweep in and save me from my stupid mistakes. I made my choices, and they led me here. I can't go back.

Tears blur my vision, and I sink onto my side, letting the worn fabric of the mattress beneath me soak up my tears. All of it was so stupid. A sob hiccups out of my throat, and I can't keep it at bay anymore.

A warm hand comes down on my shoulder, smoothing down into my hair and making me jump.

"Shh. Shh, it's all right."

I blink in confusion because I swear that's Marcus's voice. Finally, the tears clear enough that my giant firefighter captain is indeed bent over me, spreading his warm touch down my back.

"Shh. We've got you."

"Marcus?" My voice cracks, and the way he smiles down at me makes me sob even harder.

In an instant, my binds are cut free, and Marcus has me fully in his grasp. Encased in his arms, I let the release take over, slowly draining everything away but the relief that he found me. That they found me.

When he sets me back on my own weight, he fusses and looks me over. I peer behind him at Theo, Will, and Ethan. All of them share the same worry and relief at seeing me that I feel seeing them.

"How did you know" —my voice breaks and trembles— "where to find me? That I needed found?"

Will raises his hand for a small waggling wave. "I may or may not have been keeping track of your phone. And a friend of ours managed to uncover your alternate identity a while back— it wasn't too difficult to put the pieces together from there." The way his cheeks and neck burn bright red makes him look so much younger and innocent.

"We were worried about you," Theo supplies. "You weren't acting like you."

Ethan just looks at me with his hands in his pockets, patient, like he's been waiting for me this entire time to figure out what a dipshit I was being. Yeah, Ethan, you may be right, but I don't have to admit that aloud. At least, not right now, I don't.

We have other things to worry about. Like getting out of here.

"You've got some bumps and bruises on the side of your head." Marcus touches a sore spot, and I flinch. "But you seem okay otherwise."

"She drugged me." I feel my eyes going wild with the knowledge that they don't know yet. That I'm pregnant, and one of them is the father. I suck in a hard breath, but I can't get the words out. "We need to get out of here before she comes back."

"We have time." Marcus grazes my cheek and simply holds onto me for a moment.

I close my eyes at the comfort it brings. These men are my safe space. I'm truly meant to be with them, raising Lily and the baby growing in my womb with them. Fighting to keep the world a safer, nicer place with them.

I took Vanessa down, publicly. And it backfired. Looking around again, I ask, "Where are we?"

"Roughly forty miles south of Harborview in a vacant fish market." Will shrugs. "She took out your battery halfway here, but it's a holding of one of her sugar daddies."

His use of sugar daddy cracks a wide smile across my face. His eyes twinkle when he smiles back.

Metal clatters somewhere on the other side of the building, and all of my men whirl. Each finds something to use as a weapon. Boots stomp their way closer. Marcus and Theo stand on the left, Will and Ethan on the right.

Four black-clad men step through the doorway—black boots, black jeans, and matching hoodies, and worse off, black masks. Their eyes smile through those menacing holes. Each of them has a baton. It's far too even of a fight.

Damn, Vanessa wasn't joking around when she said she meant this to be my funeral ground. She must have stationed these people.

But how were they not there when the men came in?

My brows furrow in confusion, and then, I realize something with chilling clarity.

She knew. She knew they'd come to save me. And she let them.

"Marcus," I cry out, my voice hoarse. "This was a trap to?—"

"Kill all of us," Marcus replies before I can finish my thought. "I can see that. But we've planned ahead."

"But they look…" I open and close my mouth, unable to speak because of how dry everything tastes. It's like I've forgotten how to produce saliva.

"Like idiots who think they can beat us at our own game," says Ethan evenly.

They step closer.

My stomach curdles. There has to be a way out of this. I can't let anything happen to them. I scramble back, wishing I had my phone to call the police.

Vanessa's top goon makes the first lunge, swinging his baton at Marcus. But even from behind, I watch Marcus transform—muscles wide and taut, dangerous energy radiating off him as he meets the baton mid-strike with his own. And he's so fast, swinging his left fist under where their weapons connect to land a blow in the attacker's gut.

The sound of his breath whooshing out of him speeds up reality. Everyone is in motion, and I can't follow it completely. A drug-induced haze slows me down when I'm usually sharp enough to defend myself and others.

I am able to tell that my firefighters can hold their own, and they make an incredible team, having each other's back. One time, Marcus and Ethan switch opponents, and the follow through lands near fight-ending blows.

It's minutes before the four goons are facedown on the musty floor. Will's the first to pull zip tie cuffs from his back pocket. Ethan, Marcus, and Theo follow suit. Once the last tie snaps in place, more footsteps beat through the warehouse.

Men in blue appear first, taking over custody of the perps on the floor. Two officers step through and stay when the others are hauled out. Notepads are out, pens scribbling, but Ethan bends in front of me and takes me by the elbows to help me stand.

I no more than teeter on my feet when he has me wrapped up in his arms. "I told you I wouldn't give up on you." His mouth spreads a crown of kisses in my hair, and I want to sob in relief. "You could have told us," he whispers.

"I couldn't." My fingers must be bruising his back with the way I cling to him now.

"Yes, you could have. We all believe in saving others."

"Besides." Will's voice brushes the back of my neck. "You're completely wasting one of my biggest skill sets by not involving me. You have no idea how talented I can be with a computer, my love."

My head tips back as I laugh through the tears that I can't seem to stop. I'm happy and relieved. "I have some idea."

Theo leads a medic over and pries me from between Ethan and Will, kissing my forehead before he hands me over for a checkup.

Blood pressure cuff, flashlight in my eyes, and the young medic smiles at me. "No lasting damage. You'll want to eat and sleep the drugs off. We'll pull some blood to have it tested."

I crook my finger to draw him closer. "Can you… can you tell me if the baby is okay?" I say the words as softly as I can manage to not tip off the guys. Not yet.

The medics' manicured brow raises, then without missing a beat, he stuffs the stethoscope back in his ears and presses the pad against my belly. Slowly, a smile forms on his mouth, and he nods.

"You're all set to go home, but get to your primary tomorrow. Okay?" He gives me a pat on the shoulder when I agree.

In seconds, I'm surrounded by the four best men I've ever known. Each of them has their hands on me to reassure and support.

"All good?" Marcus asks.

"All good."

The way he beams at me melts my heart. It's seriously a complete puddle of goo, and I've never been happier. "Okay, good news, bad news. Good news, the officers found your phone and all of the evidence you collected on Vanessa. They're on the way to arrest her."

I nearly cackle with delight. "That's awesome. What's the bad news?"

"They're keeping your phone as evidence. We'll have to get you a new one."

Of all the things that could have been bad news, that didn't even measure. "I'll take waiting on a new phone if it means taking Vanessa down for good." But all of this joy can't outweigh what really needs to be the good news right now. "I have some good news of my own."

I turn to meet each of their gazes before I pull in a deep breath and finally get to share the news I've been wanting to share for months now.

"I'm pregnant."